Friday, January 01, 1999
Diabetes sufferers welcome library
Center to open in Middletown
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — When Carla Buffenbarger's daughter, Mary, was diagnosed with diabetes in 1990, she was frustrated to discover that local information about the frightening disease was scarce and scattered.
“I desperately needed information then,” said Mrs. Buffenbarger, a Monroe resident and coronary care nurse at Middletown Regional Hospital. “I was like a sponge soaking up anything I could. I bought books, cookbooks, called the American Diabetes Association, we went to support group meetings ... All of that was wonderful, but I needed more. I needed detailed information I could readily put my fingers on.”
She's one of thousands in Butler and Warren counties who have had similar problems. That will soon change.
A $30,000 gift from the AK Steel Foundation will fund the AK Steel Foundation Community Diabetes Resource Library, the first of its kind in the area, which will be in Middletown Regional Hospital's Diabetes Wellness Center. The center is now in the hospital, but will be expanded at a new site being renovated to open this spring at Breiel Boulevard and Grand Avenue.
The Middletown Public Library also is getting a new AK Steel Diabetes Education section later this year, featuring detailed information on diabetes, said Linda C. Baxter. She's executive director of Mid-Miami Healthcare Foundation of Middletown Regional Hospital, the hospital's fund-raising arm.
About 18 months ago hospital foundation leaders recognized that an estimated 11,000 people in Butler and Warren counties had been diagnosed with diabetes. Thousands more were undiagnosed.
“The foundation took on the initiative to raise money for a Diabetes Community Outreach Program to enhance the services of the Diabetes Wellness Center, and started a campaign to raise the money,” Ms. Baxter said. “A key component of the outreach program is a community education library.
“We also have an education and screening program for early detection of diabetes that will be done within the school systems we serve in Butler and Warren counties, businesses and senior citizens,” she said. Screenings are free to high-risk individuals.
In 1998, the campaign raised $155,000, nearly double its $80,000 goal. AK's donation will be used for the libraries. The balance will fund the other things in the program at the wellness center, where Dr. Malcolm L. Steiner is medical director, Ms. Baxter said.
“We believe the resource library and education center will provide information that's critically needed by people with diabetes and their families,” said Richard M. Wardrop Jr, AK Steel Corp. chairman and chief executive officer.
Douglas W. McNeil, the hospital's president and CEO, said the gift “will help thousands of area individuals learn about diabetes and take action to preserve health and prolong life.”
The wellness center's resource library will include videotapes, a computer work station with educational programs, sample menus, books and magazines and a demonstration kitchen for cooking classes.
“This is wonderful,” Mrs. Buffenbarger said. “With these new resource centers people can have what I needed, all under one roof.”
To contact the diabetes wellness center, which serves residents of Butler and Warren counties, call 513-727-5475.
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